


Eye Towards the Future

by NinesByDawn



Series: Nest Building [7]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Future, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23187295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinesByDawn/pseuds/NinesByDawn
Summary: The two birds get a start on what will become their future identities...
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Raven, Rob/Rae, Robin/Raven, Robrae
Series: Nest Building [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655041
Kudos: 44





	Eye Towards the Future

Raven levitated above the circle of candles in her room, meditating. She had no idea how long it had been since she first started, but she was focused on the task at hand. Calmly chanting her incantation, she tried to stay in the balanced state. Peace…light…stay in the light… The empath had had much better control of her emotions since after the prophecy, but she wasn’t sure control would ever be an absolute thing. But there was a little more hope now it could be.

Raven cracked one eye open immediately as she heard a few knocks at the door. Sighing softly, she had a feeling she knew who it was. Meditating, she thought, hoping he would pick it up. Her thought was answered as she heard footsteps a few seconds later that faded away shortly. Raven closed her eyes once more and proceeded with her ritual, continuing on. Robin always tried his best not to interrupt her while she was meditating. His thoughtfulness gave her a brief floaty feeling of happiness, and she let a small smile come across her lips for a second before returning to the balanced state. It was best not to get too up or down. Finally, she finished. The sorceress extinguished the candles with a single wave of her cloak, then put her hood up and exited. She had lost track of time again, and it was dark both outside and inside the tower as the rest of the team had either gone out or retreated for the night. Floating over to the fridge, she quickly dislodged the assortment of half-eaten food and various drinks on all the shelves before finding a plate wrapped in cling wrap at the back. Pulling it out, she found a note attached to the wrap. Managed to hide leftovers from the eating machines. Don’t forget to take care of your physical side too. Raven smiled again, and ate her late night dinner in silence as she stared out the window at the ocean.

The sorceress spent most of the next day doing the same ritual, only pausing to quickly eat meals before returning to her room. The surroundings were starting to wear on her, but she knew it was the only place in the entire city she would be guaranteed quiet. The process was succeeding in keeping her calm, but she still didn’t feel like she was achieving…her new goal. She was again interrupted by a knock at the door, this time a series of them in rapid succession.

Meditating, again, she thought. She assumed it was the Boy Wonder, since most of the team just did their own thing now, so he was the only one who ever consistently checked on her. She frowned as the knocks came again. A few moments later, the door opened.

“Friend, hello!” Starfire exclaimed cheerily, floating in. The empath raised an eyebrow at her outfit. Her hair was in two pigtails, and she was wearing a black T-shirt with a skull and crossbones, as well as ripped jeans and floppy sneakers.

“I’m kind of in the middle of something, Star,” Raven muttered. “What is it?”

“Would you like to—”

“No.”

“But please, friend Raven!” the alien begged. “I was going to ask what you thought of this wondrous outfit! I shall not interrupt your meditation any more after this.”

“It…looks like something a cosplayer of me would wear on a daily basis,” Raven responded. “Doesn’t look too great on you.”

“Oh, but friend! I have spent much of the Earthling dollars on these.”

“Can’t help you there,” she shrugged. “I’ll go with you next time to pick something better out, okay? I need to finish this first.”

“I am most saddened by your thoughts,” Starfire said dejectedly. “I shall ask the others as well.” With that, she left the room and Raven quickly shut the door. She continued meditating throughout the afternoon and evening, once again stopping at night to eat a late night dinner. The empath was still dissatisfied at the lack of progress she’d made. Sighing, she decided to call it a night early and get some relaxation in.

Robin opened up almost immediately after she knocked. Raven could have popped up in his room anytime, but she had decided to be polite since it had been a while.

“Hey,” he greeted. “Haven’t seen you around much lately.”

“Hope you didn’t miss me too much,” she teased as she strolled in and sat down on his bed.

“You can tell anyways, can’t you?” he remarked as he sat down next to her.

“You think too highly of yourself. You really think I wanna be in your head all the time?”

“Always fitting in the drive-by shots,” Robin commented, shaking his head. “Anyways, what’s up?”

“Rotting away from boredom,” she replied. “You think at some point we’ll have to leave? Like, here, I mean.”

“Why do you ask? And why are you wondering?”

“It just feels like it’s been so long,” she murmured, resting her head on his chest. “This isn’t the only city that needs help.”

“You’re absolutely right,” he agreed. “We can’t just stay here for the rest of our lives, living off Cyborg’s money and messing around every day. This city’s been quiet for a while. It might be time soon to move on.”

“But, moving on will be difficult at the same time,” she pointed out. “This city’s…home. Maybe not for you, but it is for me now.”

“It’s like home for me now too,” he mused. “But I do want to get out there. There’s always people who need help.”

“It’ll be a difficult conversation, Robin. We’ve all been through a lot together.”

“We don’t have to have everything figured out right now, Rae,” he told her. “But…it is always good to plan ahead.” She nodded in agreement.

“But, will you promise me one thing?” she asked.

“Yeah?”

“Stay with me?” she said softly, turning and looking into his eyes. “Maybe not all the time. But always close by.”

“Of course, Raven. Anything for you, anywhere in the world.” He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss and she beamed. They cuddled for a bit, Robin playing with her hair and Raven snuggling closer to him as the night wore on. They were perfectly content to sit in silence with each other, both of them comforted by the presence of the other. Robin especially loved all the small moments he got her to smile, those rare times that only he got to witness.

“So, anything besides rotting away?” he said after a while. “I know you’ve been meditating a ton.”

“Somehow even that hasn’t been as productive lately,” she grumbled. He put a hand on her shoulder.

“You seem like you have…new motives,” he began. “I can feel it. You’re searching for something. You’ve been a lot calmer in this past year, but now you seem like you have a purpose again.”

“Robin,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry I haven’t…been around you much lately. For a while now, actually.”

“It’s alright,” he reassured her. “I’ve actually been quite busy as well. But I am interested to know what you’re seeking.”

“I was recently going over some scrolls and ancient texts again,” she explained. “How should I explain this…” She stroked her chin for a bit, ruminating. “You know when my clothes become white and I have more power? No, actually, I wouldn’t call it that. I’d say more control.”

“How could I forget?” he chuckled, thinking back to all the times he’d seen it. The fight with Malchior, and of course the fight for the world against Trigon.

“It’s called the pure state. And from what I’ve been reading, there may be a way to achieve it…permanently.”

“Permanently?” Robin repeated. She nodded.

“It involves a combination of strong emotion and extreme control. It’s paradoxical in that sense, and that’s why it usually doesn’t last. I was able to achieve it with Malchior because I felt what I thought was love, and he taught me many spells that sped up the process. And obviously, fighting my father, feeling the hope that served both purposes.”

“It seems like something that would be extremely hard to achieve permanently,” he thought aloud. “Something that might take a lifetime to achieve.”

“I wasn’t aware of the fact it was possible until now,” she told him. “And…I’m hopeful I can do it sooner rather than later. There’s one other piece I think will be critical.”

“Which is?”

“Trigon,” she murmured. “As long as his influence still lives within me, it’ll always cause enough chaos to disrupt the connections. But, I’ve felt it wane. And I think once it’s gone completely, the rest will fall into place.”

“I can understand all that,” Robin acknowledged. “But you’ve still got your entire life in front of you. There’s no need to worry if you can’t figure it out now.”

“But it would be nice,” she replied, weaving her fingers into his hand. “To truly not have any worries. To be more…human. For the first time in my life.” Robin nodded, and gave her a light squeeze in his grasp.

“So that’s what the increased meditation has been for.”

“I’m not sure if the answer is more meditation, actually,” she surmised. “I shouldn’t have expected it to be something simple like that. I’ll have to do more reading and thinking.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out in time,” he encouraged. “So, what’s the emotion you’ll feel that’ll help you sustain it?” he teased lightly, though he already knew the answer. She turned to him and gently peeled off his mask, then looked into his eyes.

“Happiness, thankfully. Because of you and our friends,” she started. She then gave him a light kiss on the nose. “But, especially you. For everything.”

“Like I said, anything, anytime, anywhere,” he replied. The Boy Wonder stretched, then repositioned himself, wrapping an arm around her once again.

“Thanks,” she said. “So don’t take it personally if I happen to disappear for a day every here and there now.”

“You’ll always have my support,” he assured her. “It’s not that big of a deal. Like I said, I’ve also been kind of busy myself.”

“With what?” Raven asked with curiosity.

“I figured…it might be time for an identity update myself,” he confessed. She let out a small chuckle.

“Fair. I guess you aren’t really much of a boy anymore, are you, Boy Blunder.”

“It’s served me well,” he remarked wistfully. “And I think I’ll keep it for a little longer. But, as before, never hurts to start planning.”

“So what have you been working on?”

“I remembered what Star said when she came back from that time travel trip,” he mused. “That was kind of the inspiration for it all. I’ll be down in the archives doing more research tomorrow morning, but come to the garage tomorrow afternoon and I’ll show you.”

“I’ll be there.”

True to her word, the empath arrived in the tower’s garage/spacious workspace the next day, to find Robin sitting at a bench on the side. Various tools were scattered at the long table, and he had a face shield on as he worked. His laptop was off to the side on a different table, and Raven glanced over at it, the screen filled with various open blueprints and designs. Sensing her presence, Robin stopped working and put his shield up.

“Hey,” he called. “Can’t wait to show you everything.” He went back to working on the bench, and Raven peered around the garage, her arms folded. The T-Car and the R-Cycle were parked neatly in the middle, but Robin had piled the walls of the storage area with what looked like scrap metal and extra parts.

“Hopefully you’re not using any of Cyborg’s spare parts he keeps for the car,” she remarked, walking closer to him.

“I made sure of it,” he replied, finishing up his creation. “Think fast!” He suddenly spun around and threw the object in his hand at her. Raven reacted just in time, stopping it inches from her face with her telekinesis. The object, shaped like a throwing star, fell in her palm, and she glared at him. “Good reaction time,” he laughed, turning back to the table.

“Dick.”

“Yes?”

“I wasn’t saying your name, actually,” she clarified drily. “And what would have happened if I didn’t react in time?”

“I knew you would,” he said with a wink. She rolled her eyes and looked down at the object. It was slightly smaller than one of the Birdarangs she had grown used to seeing him use, but it was still shaped like a bird all the same. Its wings were extremely curved and sharp at all 4 edges. She lifted it in her palm several times, finding out it was lightweight as well. Robin finished another one and walked over to her with it in his hand.

“Haven’t decided what to call them yet,” he told her. “But they’re turning out quite nicely.”

“Anything special about them?”

“Not for now. Functionality is pretty much the same as before, I just think they fit in with the overall design better.”

“This design?” Raven mused, scrolling through the open windows on the laptop. She looked over what appeared to be a suit design, with front and back both shown. “I see you’re ditching the red and green. Big fan of the blue on your new color scheme.”

“I knew you’d like it better,” he laughed, walking over to look at the screen with her. “They’re your colors now.”

“And these?” the empath continued, pulling up another window. “Switching up the fighting style?”

“Not really. Just trying to be more versatile,” he answered, scrolling down the blueprint. On it were two batons, that were shown on another diagram to be able to combine and form a staff. “I haven’t figured out how I’m gonna add these bad boys yet. But I think they’ll be useful,” he continued, pointing to the last diagram.

“Tasers on the end. For a little extra sting,” Raven remarked.

“Precisely,” Robin said, nodding. “Of course, the rest of this stuff is pretty standard fare at this point.” He showed her the last several blueprints, which displayed various gadgets stored in his belt, suit, and even mask. “So, what do you think?”

“It definitely feels more like something your mentor would don.”

“It’s my own take on it,” he chuckled. “I can’t ever stray too far from escrima. It’s just part of my identity now.” Robin went back to the suit design and looked it over again, while Raven glanced over all the gadgets he had already built and tools sitting on the table.

“You know what else I like about this?”

“What would that be?” she inquired.

“We’ll be matching colors now,” Robin said cheesily. She looked at him and shook her head in amusement. “It’s true! The dynamic duo in black and blue.”

“Well,” Raven replied with a twinkle in her eyes, “I might not be wearing those colors by the time you become this.”


End file.
